Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether proposals to temporarily close parts of St Anne’s beach to lay cables to connect the Morgan and Morecambe windfarm to its substations includes provisions to compensate affected business owners.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

All relevant information on the Morgan and Morecambe transmission assets can be found on the appropriate project page of the Planning Inspectorate website. The developers set out their proposals for a contingency fund to address temporary business disruptions caused by necessary construction works in their Development Consent Order Application documents.^[1]

^[1] https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/EN020032/EN020032-000632-D1.1_MMTA_Annex%201%20Morgan%20Offshore%20Wind%20Limited%20Property%20Cost%20Estimate.pdf

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support is available from his Department to set up a new Internal Drainage Board for the Fylde coast.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Internal Drainage Boards (IDB) are local independent statutory public bodies, mainly funded by the beneficiaries of their work; this includes farmers who pay drainage rates and local authorities that pay special levies. Determining where new IDBs should be created is a matter of local choice, and the Government will only consider proposals where there is clear local support, including from local authorities and farmers.

Defra is addressing the current barrier to establishing new IDBs and expanding existing ones. Changes were made to the Land Drainage Act 1991, via the Environment Act 2021, enabling new IDBs to be created and existing IDBs to expand their boundaries. Defra will bring forward the necessary statutory instrument when Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to bring forward legislation on sustainable drainage systems.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.

We believe that these outcomes can be achieved through either improving the current planning led approach using powers now available or commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. A final decision on the way forward will be made in the coming months.

We have made some immediate changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to support increasing SuDS. The NPPF now requires all development to utilize SuDS where they could have drainage impacts. These systems should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed development.

We will review the planning system holistically and consider whether further changes are required to address SuDS when we consult on further planning reform, including national policy related to decision making, in 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure women presenting symptoms of endometriosis receive sufficient care during early stages of diagnosis.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis. Several measures are in place to raise awareness of endometriosis among clinicians and support diagnosis and care.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024, NICE published updated recommendations on the diagnosis, management, and treatment of endometriosis. These are available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73

Endometriosis is included in the core curriculum for general practitioners, and for obstetricians and gynaecologists. The General Medical Council is introducing the Medical Licensing Assessment for most incoming doctors, including all medical students graduating from academic year 2024/25 and onwards. Within this assessment are several topics relating to women’s health, including endometriosis. This will encourage a better understanding of endometriosis among doctors as they start their careers in the United Kingdom.

Never again will women’s health be neglected. We will prioritise women’s health as we reform the NHS and women’s equality will be at the heart of our missions.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent soil degradation on agricultural land impacted by repeated flooding.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Sustainable Farming Incentive provides payments for several actions to improve soil health, including herbal leys and multi-species cover crops. Healthy soils have improved resilience to extreme weather and will recover faster from flood events. Sustainable Farming Incentive actions can also be used to slow down the flow of water within catchments, helping to mitigate wider catchment flood risk. We have also recently announced a significant expansion of the flood and drought resilience offer within Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier with new actions to store water, which can be used to protect agricultural land from flooding.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the revenue from applying VAT to independent schools in Fylde constituency in the next financial year.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government does not have an estimate of the revenue from this measure specifically from the Fylde constituency.

At the Autumn Budget the Government published a detailed response to the consultation conducted between July and September. Annexed to this is the costing methodology used to calculate the total revenue generated by this policy. Included is a breakdown of the exchequer impact by year, including 2025/26. This was published online and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6734864af6920bfb5abc7a29/Government_Response_to_the_Technical_Note_on_Applying_VAT_to_Private_School_Fees_and_Removing_the_Business_Rates_Charitable_Rate_Relief.pdf

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the revenue from applying business rates to independent schools in Fylde constituency in the next financial year.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government reconfirmed that it is removing private schools’ eligibility for charitable rate relief under business rates in England from April 2025. This intervention will raise around £140 million per year.

Business rates retention means that local authorities retain a proportion of all business rates revenue. As such, the increase in rates receipts due to the reduction in charitable rate relief for private schools will be shared between central and local government.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the change is in the rate of unemployment in Fylde since the Autumn Budget 2024.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No estimate is available of the unemployment rate in Fylde since the Autumn Budget 2024. The latest estimates of unemployment, covers the period October 2023 – September 2024. This is available via ONS Nomisweb site: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

Guidance for users can be found at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Fylde constituency are awaiting winter fuel payments for 2024-25.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

We do not hold the data requested at constituency level. However, where the customer is eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment, the Department aims to make this payment within 2 weeks of the award of their qualifying benefit. Customers won't miss out on Winter Fuel Payments even if their qualifying benefit takes longer to process than usual.

Statistics on Winter Fuel Payments are published annually. The latest publication contains data on Winter Fuel Payments made in 2023/24.